Monday, March 15, 2010

one misty moisty morning

One misty moisty morning,When cloudy was the weather,I chanced to meet an old man,Clothed all in leather.He began to complimentAnd I began to grin.How do you do? And how do you do?And how do you do again?

'tis a misty, moisty morning today on the north coast. weather like this always makes me think of that old nursery rhyme that I loved to sing to em when she was a little girl. this morning I am also thinking of a gentleman I met last week. last thursday afternoon I had the good fortune to meet c.p. kelley - c.p. isn't an old man, he wasn't quite clothed all in leather, but he did have the most marvelous leather hat, a leather jacket, and it turns out he's a leather artist!

not only did c.p. make his marvelous hat, he also makes art made out of leather. he described what he does as 'painting with leather' - I could identify with how he put that as I often consider quilting as 'painting with fabrics.' c.p. mentioned where his work has been displayed and named some famous folks that own some of his work; I can only remember nancy wilson, the other names I forgot, but nancy that is waaaay cool! since I just finished spending the afternoon at the art museum, I had art on the brain; we started chatting about art, in particular the meaning of art in our daily lives. I asked c.p. if he had a website, he said not yet, but that one day he hopes to get one up. however, I'm happy to report that although c.p. doesn't yet have his own website, through the wonders of google I did find some snaps of a few of his pieces, and this wonderful quote where he shares some of his views on art:

One thing that I love about art, no matter how extreme, wild, experimental and crazy it may be, there will always be someone out there that understands the message. I want to express the pride of all races, by showing God's beauty, through the images of my mind. I believe every artist is a messenger. We express how we feel and someone will understand. We bring our gifts. We are the dreamers. We are the conscious of the world.

isn't that just beautiful? you can check out some of c.p.'s work by going here. unfortunately, right now c.p. is on a hiatus from creating any new work. turns out, he is tremendously busy these days helping take care of his elderly mom who has been having more than her share of health problems. his mom has a few serious chronic health problems and her status is fragile enough to where she qualifies to be in a nursing home, however, the family doesn't want to put mom in a home. recently, they had a family meeting and developed a schedule with the local kids and grandkids and worked up a system where mom's got car 24/7. I love hearing stories like this, they feed my soul.

oh, in case you were curious, along with meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen in way too long, what prompted my trip last week to the museum was this:

the exhibit is amazing and I heartily recommend it....if you don't have the good fortune of living here, the exhibition is well worth the trip to our fair city.

steeleye span performing misty moisty morning at the 1987 philadelphia folk festival. I don't know about you, but this tune always makes me happy and want to do a wee little jig! I (heart) maddy prior!

encounters like this with c.p. are the reason i'm happy not to have a car and i usually either walk or take public transportation to get around!

megan - what c.p and his family are doing is so inspiring but it makes me sad in that i live too far from my folks to replicate such loving care - and although we like visiting metro dc we simply could never afford to live there. oh well, we all do what we can do, eh?

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unless noted otherwise, all photos on the mouse are taken by me, kim yanoshik. you are welcome to use them if credit is given. if you seek to make a profit, you need to first ask permission to use the photo; then you are obliged to share that profit with yours truly, otherwise karma will catch up with you!